Reforming
by James' Girl Lily
Summary: Clary Fray thought her life would be easier now that the Mortal Instruments were safely back where they belonged, but life is as tricky as when Valentine was roaming the earth. Why is she getting the strange feeling that she’s being watched? Set after CoG
1. The Unseelie Court

_I have recently become extremely obsessed with The Mortal Instruments series, and after finishing the series last night I decided I wanted to continue the experience in any way I could. So here I am, writing my own version of events that take place after City of Glass. Hope you all enjoy it. _

_**Reforming **_

_Chapter One: The Unseelie Court. _

_Disclaimer: I own nothing created by the wonderfully talented Cassandra Clare.  
_

* * *

"And whatever you do don't eat or drink anything." Isabelle Lightwood lectured turning to her companion as they walked through a park on the outskirts of New York. Her long black hair was tied up in braids; her usual style for Shadowhunter business.

"You said that one already." Replied the girl next to her. She was shorter than Isabelle was and had hastily pulled her red hair into a ponytail while running out the door. How she'd managed to convince Isabelle to allow her to tag along on official Clave business, she'd never know.

"Oh," Isabelle began again. "They're going to call you Clarissa. That's just what they do."

The girl, Clarissa, sighed. "I wish they'd all stop doing that. I know Clarissa's my name, but I just don't understand why they can't say 'Clary'; it's not that hard to say. They'll probably call me Morgenstern too."

"You can't escape your past." Isabelle stated quietly, understanding etched into her voice.

The girls stopped at a large tree to the side of the park; Clary had to jerk herself to a standstill as Isabelle forgot to point out which tree lead to their destination: the Unseelie Court.

Clary had seen the inside of one court before and was trying to remember the hypnotising dancers and startlingly beautiful creatures wandering the enclosure. Her memory obviously wasn't as good as she thought it was; she could only vaguely recall colours and scenes, probably because she'd spent so much time trying to repress the events that occurred.

Turning back to the present, Clary watched as Isabelle knocked firmly against the trunk of the tree. It swung open sharply to reveal a disjointed looking boy with green skin. He took in the Marks covering Isabelle's body, grinned and directed them to follow him.

"Ugh, devious little pixies." Isabelle muttered as she crossed into the faerie world inside the tree. "Come on Clary, I don't want to be here all afternoon."

The pixie had led them down a dark tunnel that emerged in a large underground room; at least Clary thought it would be best described as a room, or perhaps a hall. She noted the deep brown and red colours that travelled across the walls. Trailing her finger down the side she discovered it was made up of compacted dirt. She hoped the roof wouldn't collapse on them, dying in a tunnel wasn't one her list of goals to achieve.

The contrast between the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court were startlingly obvious. Though she thought there was nothing tangible to be remembered from her trip to the light court, Clary had been wrong. The Seelie Court had been full of brightness, but was structured completely on order and formalities. Clary recalled that everyone had a station and held their place in society with respect to the Queen. The Unseelie Court, however, was nothing like that.

Darkness shocked Clary until she remembered most Downworlders, those with part demon blood or with demonic infections, could see in the dark a lot better than she could, being essentially human. Once her eyes adjusted to the dimness surrounding her, she gazed upon a chaotic scene. The fey here weren't dancing in orderly patterns; in fact most of them weren't dancing at all. There were tables set up for food and drinks, gambling, fortune telling and, much to Clary's distaste, torture.

Isabelle placed her hand on Clary's shoulder and lent towards her ear to assure that her words received. "I have to go talk to the Unseelie Queen. Stay here and remember everything I discussed with you on the way over." She stressed the last part and waited for Clary to nod before turning away.

"Mmm, human." Someone whispered from beside her. "I haven't played with a human is _such_ a long time."

Clary jumped and the faerie laughed harshly before wandering if. She hoped that would be her only encounter with this court, but she wasn't so lucky. She heard the voice before she saw the group of fey making their way towards her.

"I told you there was a human standing on the sidelines." It was the same voice she'd encountered. "But she doesn't seem tempted by anything."

"That's not a mundane Rita." A gruff voice came from one of them. Clary tried hard not to look or listen to them, but they were so intriguing. Their clothes looked to be made of silk, but they glistened as though made of the surface of a lake in the sunlight and of dark and hidden tones that allowed them to blend into their surrounding comfortably; though how anyone could be comfortable in such a cluttered and busy environment puzzled Clary. She looked down at her own jeans and pale pink top, cringing at the thought of standing out in this crowd.

"I never said it was a _mundane._" They voice, Rita, replied; emphasising the word used to describe humans with no knowledge of the hidden occurrences in the world that involved Demons, Downworlders and the Angel fighting Nephilim. "I only said she was human."

"Hi human." One from the group said, coming up beside her and running an elongated hand down the side of her arm, making Clary shiver and earning a giggle from the group drawn to her.

"Do you want to dance with us?" Another asked grabbing Clary's hand and directing her towards the crowd. They were a disjointed bunch, but their lack of formality reminded Clary of Pandemonium, the club she often visited with her best friend Simon. She was tempted to say yes and lose herself in the familiarity of it all. Until she remembered, they were faeries; dancing with them would probably cost her deeply with something like her life.

"N-no thank you." Clary replied, her voice falling into another eruption of giggles.

"She's a Shadowhunter." Someone whispered behind her. "You smell it, the light blood coursing through her veins. Can I have your Angel blood; I've never had Nephilim blood before."

"We won't tell anyone you shared your blood." Rita said taking a step towards her. "It'll be our little secret." She grinned at Clary, showing her the sharp pointy teeth that were hidden beneath her dark lips.

"Clary!" The voice made her jump high enough to knock the fey in front of her backwards a few steps. It was Isabelle's voice. She'd finished with her meeting and was ready to leave once more. Remembering where she was, she raced over to Isabelle eager to escape the tempting faeries. "What did you think you were doing?"

"I didn't approach them, they came up to me." Clary defended herself as they twisted back through one of the exiting tunnels. Turning to get one last glimpse at the Court, Clary saw her admirers' wave and blow kisses at her. She gave a small wave of her own, not sure what the proper greeting was in these situations before Isabella huffed and pulled her along the hall. Once outside in the open air, Isabelle marched down towards the roads in the distance not once looking over her shoulder.

Clary had to jog to catch up to Isabelle who'd be walking as fast as she could away from the hill they'd just emerged from. Apparently the entrance they came through wasn't the exist. "Why does the Unseelie Court seem more…"

"Dark? Twisted?" Isabelle said guessing Clary's thoughts. "It's supposed to be like that. It's the evil to the Seelie Court's good. Or whatever good can come from the Fey."

"I was going to say "more inviting". Is it really all that evil?" Clary asked looking at the girl next to her.

"Clary, you of all people should know the faeries are a dangerous race." Isabelle began hinting at their run in with the Queen of the Seelie Court earlier that year. "Think of what the Seelie Fey can do and then magnify it by ten."

Clary shuddered. _'If I'd pricked myself there I don't think an innocent kiss would have got me out safely.'_

"They only seem more inviting," Continued Isabelle as though Clary hadn't reacted. "Because they're not trying to hide their devious ways. Everyone knows they're up to no good already, there's no point claiming otherwise. Not that they'd be able to anyway, one of the plus sides of not being able to lie."

"That all depends on how far they sway the truth." Clary muttered to no-one in particular. Faeries had a way of telling you the complete truth while leaving out all the important details. _'Like how Jace wasn't actually my brother. The Seelie Queen could have save a whole lot of heartbreak if she'd only said "You both have the same Angel blood in your veins, but don't worry you have different parents." How hard would that have been?'_

"Whatever you do, don't tell Alec and Jace I let you come with me today." Isabelle said jolting Clary out of her thoughts.

"Let me guess, Alec still thinks I'm too young to do any real Nephilim stuff and Jace would flip?" Clary asked.

"You got it in one. They really should have learned by now that you're perfectly capable of attending a few simple meetings with other Downworlders. It's not like you haven't come in contact with them before." Isabelle shrugged her shoulders and moved out of the way of the people coming towards them. They'd reached one of the streets not far from the Unseelie Court and were heading for the train station hoping to reach New York before dinner.

"Wait, meetings only? You all don't think I should fight, do you?" Clary voice held frustration underneath its seemingly calm tone. They had an ongoing argument at the Institute about whether Clary was capable of fighting like any other Nephilim; all because she didn't have a similar upbringing.

Isabelle was saved from having to take up her end of the argument once more when her phone rang. She twisted her electrum whip around her wrist before pulling the phone out of her pocket and looking at the caller-id.

"Crap." She whispered squeezing her eyes shut before answering. "Hey Jace, what's up?" Her voice sounded cheerful, which was practically normal for Isabelle; though Clary could see the tension in her body and who could blame her when she was trying to keep something from Jace. Clary kept watching, not knowing what was being said on the other end of the phone.

"No, haven't seen Clary all day…Of course I'm being series. I've been at the Unseelie Court all afternoon, I didn't exactly have time to wander off and hang out with Clary, besides the Court was a lot more entertaining than Clary is." To Clary she mouthed '_Sorry_'. "Look, have you tried calling her?...Well Jocelyn has a pretty good need for it…I don't know why she hasn't bought her own phone yet! Let me go catch the train and I'll help you look for her, ok? Bye Jace. Bloody annoying!" She said into the phone after having hung up on Jace.

"Thanks Izzy." Clary said giving her a small smile. "You go catch the train to the Institute, I'm going to head off to Luke's. Come looking for me there first. I'll say I was wandering around the streets for a bit, trying to escape all the wedding stuff." Before she could get an answer, Clary turned down a street that headed in the opposite direction to the train station.

Clary mentally slapped herself on the hand remembering she'd just called her home "Luke's". It still felt strange living at Luke's house behind the bookstore. She'd always felt comfortable there, but now it was to be her permanent home; or it would be once her mother married Luke. _'Finally I'll have a father who actually loves me. And Luke's always been like a father to me; this will all work out well in the end.' _

Coming into Luke's street, Clary saw that the house was a mess. People were standing in and around all the doors, most of them on phones. Confusion crossed her face.

"What's going on?" She asked the first person she came across, one of Luke's friends, a werewolf she supposed since he was leader of the local lycanthrope pack in New York.

"Oh, Clary. Thank God." A male voice said from the front door. Clary looked up to see Luke standing in his doorway, a phone held up to his ear and a look of relief washed over his face. "Jace, I've got her here. She just walked up. Come round later and you can grill her yourself."

Luke walked up to Clary and gave her a hug around the shoulders. "Next time you decide to go wandering through the City, take a phone with you. We've had half the downworlders out searching for you, and most don't even know what you look like so it was going to be a tricky search. Come on inside, you're mother is worried sick."

Clary looked up at Luke, nodded her head and walked with him inside. _'I didn't think they'd be that worried, and certainly not _Jace._ I'll have to make sure Mum gets her own phone so I can always be contacted.'_ Clary thought to herself. _'Well, at least my life's still exciting._'

* * *

**A/N: There you have it, the first chapter in my newest story. (It also happens to be the first time I've written something that wasn't Harry Potter based, so I hope it turned out well) **

**Reviews are most welcome, they make me feel loved. **

**~James' Girl Lily**


	2. Into the Darkness

_**Reforming**_

_Chapter 2: Into the Darkness_

* * *

Jace Lightwood looked at himself in the bathroom mirror once again. Though Jace wasn't a biological Lightwood, he was still considered part of the family as they were the only ones who loved him for who he was as a person during his childhood. He'd felt loved by them and they provided him with a home. Turning back to the mirror, Jace counted off the amount of times he'd faced it today. It was the fourth time that morning that he'd questioned his appearance for the day.

He wasn't usually like this, but something about seeing Clary made him more aware of the need to look presentable. Ever since they'd discovered they were not brother and sister as they had once believed, Jace's thoughts had constantly been settling on Clary and the possibilities that were now open to them. No longer did they have to repress their feelings for each other, it wouldn't seem wrong or sick.

Sighing, Jace moved away from the bathroom and vowed not to enter it again today. No amount of primping and styling was going to get rid of his nerves, so he might as well give up the hopes of ever fixing himself to any form of perfection. He looked at the clock; 12:03. He was late. Last night, Jace had called Clary to scold her on not being reachable that afternoon and they'd arranged to meet up today and just hang out. Although not much hanging out could happen if he didn't get a move on.

Jogging out the door he raced over to the elevator and made his way downstairs into the entrance to the Institute. It was a wide cathedral that was lined on all sides by faintly glowing candles; at least they were faint at the moment. The light was necessary during the day.

As the door ahead opened, Jace raised his gaze until it settled on a girl with vibrant red hair; it was Clary. She was framed by the sunlight, which brought a smile to his face as he imagined her to resemble an angel walking out to greet him. Anyone who knew them would see the irony in these thoughts; not only did shadowhunters contain the blood of an angel, but both Jace and Clary were the result of an experiment using angel blood before their births.

"Hey." He whispered when they'd finally reached each other.

"Hi." Clary replied, a smile breaking out across her face. "Got a plan for the day?"

"Well I thought we could go have lunch at Taki's and then go hang out around Turtle Pond." Jace answered.

Clary was slightly concerned. "You want to go hang out in the Seelie Court?"

"Not in it, just near it." Jace clarified. "The underground scene isn't too pleasant, but can you seriously say the same for the scene above ground?"

"I guess not." Clary said nervously before Jace took her hand and washed her nerves away. It was just a pond; a pond in a park. There was nothing wrong with visiting it, especially if they had no intention of taking a trip down to faerie-land. _'Both courts and it hasn't even been a day yet. That has to be a record.'_ She thought to herself as they walked out the door.

* * *

Turtle Pond was dazzling during the day. The sun was just setting, sending rays of light over the sparkling surface of the water. Clary watched as Jace bent over the surface and swiped his hand through the water sending little droplets over the immediate area of the pond. She smiled at him before turning to view the surrounding landscape. Like most parks in the area, forest like trees indicated the edge of the park. Clary used to imagine they held mystical creatures in their depths, but now she wondered if she'd ever really imagined it.

The hair on the back of her neck stood up, tickling her slightly and she got the opinion they were being watched from somewhere. A twig snapped in the distance. _'It could be anything.'_ Clary told herself, it was a park after all and lots of people wandered around in the early evening. Another noise sounded, like footsteps treading gently through the dry leaves below.

"Did you hear something?" Clary asked suddenly, turning sharply to face the direction of the park trees. She shivered though it wasn't a cold night.

"I didn't hear anything." Jace confirmed, his eyes narrowing as he followed Clary's gaze. "But I do see something."

Clary took a step backwards bumping into Jace as a figure emerged from the trees beside them. The figure was slim and slightly elongated at certain joints, and Clary noted that it was must definitely female. Her skin was pale blue, though she didn't appear to be cold as you might expect when you come across a blue person. She had thorns poking out of her wrists and was wearing a lazy smile upon her face. She was a faerie.

As she made her way closer to them, Clary gasped. She'd seen this faerie before, in the Unseelie Court the previous night. It was Rita.

"Shadowhunter." Rita said seductively to Jace, raising her hand in a small wave. "You shouldn't be out this late, someone might think you're hunting something dangerous." She said the word 'dangerous' as though it had more than one meaning, though what she could possible have been hinting at Clary had no idea. She thought she'd escaped notice until Rita continued her random comments. "Hello Human. It's so nice to see you again. I thought our time together last night was going to be our last. I'm glad I was wrong."

"What is your business here Faerie." Jace growled in his Shadowhunter voice. He had a way of changing from the fun loving relaxed Jace, to upholder of the Law Nephilim Jace without even noticing he'd done so.

"Just wandering." Rita replied. "Giving my regards to the Seelie Court, searching for a few _people_ looking for a fun night. You know how it is."

"Then continue what you're doing and move along." Jace stated firmly.

Rita smiled again. "As you say Shadowhunter." And with that she left. Clary was sure she was going to be on the wrong end of a lecture and braced herself for its explosion.

Instead, Jace ignored Rita's remarks. "You must have felt the faerie in the trees."

"I don't think so." Clary replied. "It felt darker, like _something_ was watching us; not someone."

"Are you sure you weren't –" Whatever it was Jace was going to accuse Clary of was cut off when a dark shape moved swiftly past the two of them.

Clary jumped and moved closer to Jace. He threw his arms out and over her, pulling her towards him and let go the moment the shape passed.

"Demons. And on my night off." He commented lightly as though this sort of thing occurred everyday.

"Not funny Jace." Clary said weakly. As long as he remained calm she was certain she could too.

The dark shape moved past them once again. Jace swore.

"Clary, stay here and what ever you do don't follow me." Said Jace grabbing hold of her wrist with one hand to stress his demand, while his other hand reached for one of the seraph blades he kept at all times. He didn't like giving Clary orders, especially when she rarely followed them; but his protective nature kicked in and the words came tumbling out before he could stop them. The present danger served as a reminder of how important it was for Clary to be safe. If only she would take the hint.

"_Stay_ _here?_ You can't be serious. What if it comes back to get me?" She screeched, eyes reflecting the panic in Jace's own face.

"It's not after you." Jace tried to reassure her. He went release her wrist only to find Clary's hand clamped around his own arm.

"How can you be sure? I felt them here earlier!" Her voice wavered and she jumped at the sound of a twig snapping behind her someone. "And it's a _demon_. Since when do they have a set agenda?"

"Clary, listen to me." Jace said turning her body to face his own. "You _will_ be alright here. You're under a lamp, you have your witchlight in your pocket and you've got a stele. But it's my job to hunt down demons –"

"I know it's your job and I've fought demons before. I can handle this."

"Like you handled being in the Unseelie Court yesterday?" Jace shot back, his temper getting the better of him. "Never mind. Come on. Don't lose sight of me at any moment. I'd hold your hand but I think I'll be needing both of them when we face whatever demon it is following us."

"So you agree then, this thing has been following us all night?" Clary asked grabbing hold of his hand once more.

"Look, I'm still not convinced you saw anything before but we're certainly being followed now." Jace admitted glancing around them before heading off in the direction of the Institute.

"I never said I actually saw something, just that I felt it." Clary defended, jogging slightly in order to keep up with Jace. "We could still go after it now. I don't need to be watched or protected like you keep trying to convince me I do."

Jace shook his head not looking at her. "Not a chance. We're getting reinforcements. If this thing has been chasing us around the city we're going to need a little more help locating and destroying it."

"The fantastical Jace confesses that he's not all powerful." She mock gasped earning a smile from Jace before he drew her closer to him, wrapping an arm around her waist.

o0o

Slowly the Institute came into focus. Clary had hardly noticed its approach, distracted by the thought of being followed by demons. She was glad of its presence knowing they'd both be safer once they got inside the protective holy grounds. Once inside the doors, they made their way across the familiar Cathedral-like entrance to the elevator at the end. Jace reached out a hand and pressed the call button.

In the ride up, Jace started strategising. "When we reach the top you go straight to Isabelle's room, I'll go find Alec. Tell her there's an emergency, she'll yell at you for waking her up but just ignore it. We'll meet you in her room – say it's a compromise."

Clary, having nothing better to add, nodded and waited for the elevator to stop moving. They stepped out when the doors opened and ran straight into Alec.

"Well there goes my job." Jace muttered to no-one in particular.

Alec raised an eyebrow. "Your job? Am I missing something?"

"You're always missing something." Jace said at the same time as Clary answered with "Demons are chasing us."

"Demons are _chasing_ you?" Alec asked looking between Jace and Clary as though it were some kind of joke.

"Come help us wake Izzy up and we'll explain there." Jace replied heading down the hall not waiting for Alec or Clary to catch up.

"If there were demons coming after you guys, why didn't Jace just kill it?" Alec asked Clary as they paced down the corridor leading to Isabelle's room.

"He wouldn't let me help track it without reinforcements." Clary answered in an annoyed tone. She was watching her feet and almost ran into Jace as they approached Isabelle's door.

"No," Jace corrected looking at Clary and not Alec. "Clary wouldn't stay under the street light while I got rid of it."

"You can't really have expected me to stand around in the dark and wait for you to turn up again. What if there had been more than one demon, you would have had me to back you up." She defended glaring at Jace. She jumped when Isabelle's door flew open revealing a murderous looking girl.

"See." Jace exclaimed pushing his way into Isabelle's room, ignoring the look of offence that crossed her features as he entered uninvited. "You jump at the smallest of movements, not exactly the best trait when you're out in the field."

"What in the name of the Angel is going on!?" Isabelle demanded cutting off the reply Clary was about to give. They gave her and Alec a brief account of being followed by the demon and how it was probably safer that there was more than one qualified shadowhunter out hunting it.

"Just get dressed and Marked, ok?" Jace said moving towards the door. Clary and I are going to go upstairs and get a few more weapons. Meet outside the Institute in 10 minutes." He grabbed hold of Clary's arm and pulled her out of the room and towards the elevator once more.

"Isn't the weapon's room that way?" Clary asked as they passed the door she was familiar with.

Jace nodded his head. "It is, but there are a few better knives upstairs. Maryse keeps this really pointy one hidden from the rest of us." He said naming Alec and Isabelle's mother. "She thinks we don't know where it is, but the amount of times we've explored this place it's hard to find a spot we haven't come across before."

That seemed to make sense to Clary; after all these years living in the New York Institute she couldn't imagine there'd be a room that hadn't been wandered into by one of the Lightwood children at least once.

Jace led them into a dark room and turned on the light switch. The room was fairly empty. There was a chair placed awkwardly against one wall and half a table lying on its side on the floor.

"I can't imagine anything in hidden in this room." Clary said looking around.

"That's probably what Maryse thought we'd think when she hid it here." Jace remarked shutting the door behind him and walking over the bathroom. He went straight for the tiled wall at the back. "Can I borrow your jacket; I need something to help pull the tile out so I don't touch the edges. Maryse fingerprints."

Clary shrugged her arms out of her jacket and handed it over to Jace with a frown. "Maryse is slightly paranoid, don't you think?"

"I would be too if I though Isabelle was going to use my best knife." Jace remarked before pulling a loose tile away from the wall with Clary's jacket, revealing a hollowed out section of the wall. He thrust his hand into the hole not bothering to check for nasty things lurking on the inside.

'_Why would a shadowhunter care about things like rats or spiders? The scary things aren't likely to be in the wall.'_ Clary thought mentally yelling at herself for being so squeamish still after all she'd seen and been through. _'You can take the girl out of the mundane world, but you can't take the mundie out of the girl.'_

"Huh," Jace said turning around to look at Clary. "I think Maryse is onto us. The knife's not there. Here, put your jacket back on, we'll go meet the others."

Clary struggled with the jacket in the bathroom before entering the room again. Jace's back was to her and he was fiddling with the door.

"Is the door locked?" Clary asked twisting the handle. When nothing happened she looked over her shoulder to questions Jace just in time to see him dive out the window. She screamed, though why she did she wasn't sure. It's not like she'd never seen Jace jump out of a high window and not survive; but the shock still caught her up occasionally. "Jace!"

Running over to the window, Clary saw that Jace had landed safely and was waiting for Isabelle and Alec to join him outside of the Institute. "Jace! Not fair, I can't just lead out of a window and float gracefully to the floor." She screamed at him from her position in the empty room.

"That's the point." He replied calmly readjusting his weapons belt. Even from a distance Clary could see the glint of his angel blades poking through the belt.

She checked her pocket for her stele and found that it was empty. "You stole my stele!" She shrieked. "How am I supposed to help you fight from inside the Institute?"

"You're not supposed to be fighting at all." Jace said smiling at his well laid trap. "You can stay there until we get back. You'll be safer and I won't have to watch out for you when I should be killing the nasty demon things."

"Nasty demon things?" Isabelle snorted coming up beside him. "Is that the technical term now? Hi Clary." She waved from the ground.

"Yes, it's a very technical term." Jace stated frowning at Isabelle before turning back to Clary. "Just sit tight and we'll be back soon."

"But – Wait! There's nothing in here to _sit tight_ with. No books, pens and paper, no _food._" Clary argued, hoping he'd chance his mind and come up to get here. She doubted it though.

"There's a tap in the bathroom for drinking purposes. When we get back we'll order pizza or something." He turned away heading towards the street.

"Jace!" Clary yelled once again. He turned around about to yell back when she cut him off quickly. "Be careful."

Jace blew her a kiss and grinned. "I always am."

Sighing Clary turned around and faced the empty room. "He better bring my stele back." She told the walls sternly, her voice echoing back at her in different volumes.

* * *

Alec squinted in the darkness of the alley. They'd tracked the demon all over the city and Jace had said he was certain it had gone down this side street. Alec had his doubts. It hadn't mattered how many times they'd thought they were one step ahead of the demon it managed to escape. He suspected that meant there was more than one running around them, but without proof he couldn't make Jace see otherwise.

"I don't think we're going to find anything." Isabelle commented as they crept towards the end of the alley.

Jace shushed her with a stern look and continued his silent walk into the darkness. Alec looked at Isabelle and shrugged. They'd both follow Jace into a hunt without any questions at all, but more often than not neither Isabelle nor Alec was as attached to find the demon as Jace was.

"It's empty. The damn alley in empty." Jace exclaimed as the came to the wall at the end. "How does it keep evading us? What is it, the invisible demon, or maybe the demon of camouflage?"

"We don't have an answer for you Jace." Alec said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "But the sun's about the come up so I don't think we'll find the demon around here anymore. And you still have Clary locked up in a room."

Jace swore. "I forgot about that."

"You forgot about Clary?" Isabelle asked smiling at her step-brother. "She's definitely not going to like that one."

"I didn't forget Clary; I just forgot I'd locked her up." He replied turning away from the siblings. "Come on, let's head back."

* * *

**A/N: Chapter #2 complete. I want to state my opinion on the whole relationship between Clary and Jace. Yes I think they'll be together, No I don't think it'll be sunshine and daisies for them. Even when they thought they were brother and sister they fought each other and they loved each other. Their emotions and actions aren't likely to change just because they can now love each other openly. That is why Jace still argues with Clary about her participation in the demon hunting. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter. **

**~James' Girl Lily**


	3. Special Plans

_Reforming_

_Chapter 3: Special Plans. _

* * *

Clary entered the Institute's library in the morning the following day. She'd stayed the night not wanting to risk being outside for the last few hours before true daylight heading back to Luke's place; especially when Jace hadn't killed anything the night before. When the hunting party had returned, Clary had been pacing the empty room she'd been left in. The rattle of the doorknob had made her jump before she remembered no demons could enter the room.

She had been ready to yell at Jace for locking her in here in the first place, but Jace hadn't been the one to open the door. It was Isabelle who greeted her and Isabelle who dragged her off to a spare bedroom, lent her some clothes to sleep in and tucked her into bed like she was a five year old child. Clary had told herself as she drifted off to sleep that she would have argued about being treated in such a way if she wasn't so tired from all the pacing and worrying.

When she'd woken this morning, there was a note on her bedside telling her to come to the library when she was ready. The note was in handwriting she wasn't familiar with, which must have meant it was something important and not just a social gathering with her friends.

Getting up, she wandering into the bathroom and assessed her appearance. There were dark spots under her eyes that indicated the lack of sleep she received the previous night. '_Thanks Jace,'_ she muttered to herself while getting dressed.

The walk to the library was a familiar one. Clary noticed that someone had tried to make the Institute a bit more cheerful since that last time she was here as the windows were wide open letting light fall on the normally dark hallways, and paintings had been hung every so often along the wall. She shuddered at the choices, fake looking brightly coloured flowers; and made a mental note to paint something nice for certain hallways to bring a piece of herself to the Shadowhunters.

Clary took a deep breath as she neared the library doors before pushing them open and stepping through. She was surprised to see both the Lightwood parents sitting in the broad armchairs by the fireplace discussing the contents of certain papers in front of them; but was ever more surprised to see Jace, Isabelle and Alec standing in a corner. All three wore looks of concern on their faces. Jace appeared to be forcefully displaying his opinion on something in low whispers to his adoptive siblings. From where she was standing Clary could hear nothing.

"Ah, Clarissa, you're awake." Robert Lightwood announced to the room caused Clary to jump slightly. She hadn't seen him look up, being too busy watching Jace. "We have something to discuss with you."

"Is this about last night?" Clary asked her gaze wandering between Robert and her friends at the back of the room. Jace had finally noticed her arrival and was giving her and urgent look. She thought she saw him mouth '_Say nothing.'_

Maryse looked directly at Clary. "What about last night?"

Clary was confused. She didn't think a demon attack would be kept secret from the only adult shadowhunters in the area, but she was certain Jace was telling her it was a bad idea to inform them of it. Or perhaps he was trying to protect her involvement by acting like she didn't know what was going on; you never knew with Jace. Clary decided to go with the ignorance idea, better to stay out of it.

"About me staying here. I know I have a home with Luke and my mum, but it was just so late that I, well we thought it'd be better if I just stayed the night." She shrugged hoping the story matched someone else's and cringed slightly waiting for the anger she'd face if it didn't.

"There's nothing wrong with you staying here, we figured that was the reason you did. Besides, you're a frequent visitor now; it's only fair you have a permanent room available to you." Robert said dismissing Clary's explanation with a wave of his hand. "We wanted to discuss you're future as a Shadowhunter. You do still want to learn the ways of the Clave, correct?"

Clary sighed. Now she understood why Jace was so aggravated; he never wanted her to fight and last night proved as much, even if Clary had believed he'd be more open to the suggestion after what happened in Idris.

"That's right." Clary answered looking only at Robert and Maryse. "What happened over the last few months, finding out my past, facing all the demons and evil; it only made me more aware of how little I know. If I'm going to live in this world I need to know how to protect myself in more ways that relying on lucky blows and a few advanced runes." She deliberately did not look at Jace as she spoke her feelings knowing he'd try and prevent her from entering his world. '_He wants me around and in his life, but tries to cut me out of it so often.'_

"Then you'll start training here in the times you'd usually go to school. Monday to Friday, keeping to a regular schedule." said Maryse firmly. "Robert and I won't be able to take you through all the training; there will be times when we're not available, when we have Clave business to attend to. That is why we've asked Alec to oversee your training. As an adult he can show you all you need to be a successful shadowhunter, and we'll pop in every now and then to make sure you're getting along fine. It's up to him how fast you move and who else helps you along the way. Any questions?" Clary shook her head. "Good, you start tomorrow. I suggest you talk to you mother about all this, she may not be as enthusiastic about you training, given her history."

"I'm sure she'll be fine with it, but I'll talk to her anyway." Clary rushed out. She could barely believe her ears. Finally she'd be given then chance to learn to be a real shadowhunter and not just named one because of her blood. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts that she didn't notice when the older Lightwoods exited the library, allowing for the others to make their way across to her.

"This is going to be fun." Isabelle commented instantly, pulling Clary's awareness back in the room. "I've never really got to watch someone beginning their training. Max isn't – _wasn't_ really up to the fighting part of things."

"Well Clary's not going to be fighting yet either." said Alec steadily crossing his arms over his chest.

"Wait a minute," Clary began, turning on Alec. "You're parents just said you have to train me. You _have_ to!"

Alec smiled and shook his head. "I didn't mean that I wasn't going to train you. I just meant you're not going to start with fighting. You don't just need to learn what each weapon does or how to use it correctly. You need to know how to defend and protect yourself without weapons, how to apply marks in the best way, how to use a stele correctly and _not_ just by thinking of a special rune and drawing it." He said cutting off Clary's instant reaction to rune drawing. "All beginner shadowhunters go through the same process, only they're usually a little younger than you are. But that's not going to stop me from teach you that portion of your training."

"I'm glad someone is seeing sense." Jace muttered forcefully, uttering his first comments on the subject since he walked over.

Clary's eyes narrowed. "Not this again. If I was trained I could help you track that stupid demon you lost last night. We could go after it next time it decides to follow us in the park and _you_ won't have to say 'Oh, but you don't know what you're doing Clary.' I'm sick of hearing it and I'm sick of being judged because of it. If you want me in this life then you better start getting used to be _doing_ something in it."

"I do want you in this life." Jace stated, his face softening slightly showing his sincerity in the matter. "I just don't want you getting hurt."

"The best way to stop me getting hurt is to help me learn to defend myself." Clary answered honestly. "And you can start by coming with me to talk to my mum. I have a feeling I'm going to need protection there."

* * *

"Mum, you know how we discussed me not going back to school? Well, I think I can fix the problem. Mum, now that I know about the shadowhunter world I – Mum," Clary mumbled to herself as they walked along Luke's street in Williamsburg. She had managed to recruit all three of the Lightwood children to help her convince her mother that learning to become a Shadowhunter would help her in the long run; though she wasn't certain that Jace had agreed to help her exactly, but at least he'd be there to lend her strength.

"How about: 'Mum, I want to learn how to kill things.' Or: 'Mum, I've decided to start training how to die at a young age because I miss judged the amount of weapons I'd need to fight in a demon raid and was poisoned beyond repair?'." The sarcastic comment came from Jace.

Clary's eyes narrowed. "That's not helping Jace. If that's the sort of support you're going to give then I don't want you in the room. I don't need people against me, I need people to agree with me and help me through the training."

"Is your mum still intent on you staying out of the 'family business'?" Isabelle asked, dodging a crack in the pavement.

"She accepts that I now know about her past and the world she came from, but she still doesn't want me wrapped up in it all. To her, I'll always be her mundane daughter." Clary answered dejectedly looking at her nail-bitten fingers and not at those around her.

Isabelle looked shocked. "How could she think something like that? You did so much in Idris; you're clearly not a mundie."

Clary looked up and met Isabelle's gaze. Though she knew the work she'd done with the angel's rune had helped saved many people, she hadn't thought it meant as much as fighting itself. Drawing a few runes had felt like a child's job; anyone could draw. It meant a lot to know that others hadn't viewed it that way; that she'd actually helped in the best way she possibly could. Even if she knew all that deep down, having someone tell her of their own accord meant more to Clary than anything. She smiled at Isabelle and received a grin in return; at least she had one person on her side.

"No, Izzy, you're right about that. Clary isn't a mundie. But unfortunately she's been raised like one." Alec replied shooting down all the happiness that had just coursed through the two girls.

"Then we just have to convince my mother that her way of raising me is no-longer relevant and that this is the path I need to be on." Clary stated firmly before picking up her pace a little. She was anxious to get this over and done with.

"What if she doesn't listen?" Jace asked matter-of-factly, though there was an edge of concern laced in his voice. "What is she refuses to let you train?"

Clary considered the possibility for a moment before replying. "Then I pack up my things and move to the institute. The only way she can force me to stay with her is if she treats me like a mundane; and since I no longer want that she can't have any say in whether I move onto being a shadowhunter. She can't deny that every _shadowhunter_, has the right to train, so she won't be able to deny me this."

"You might have to move to the Institute anyway," Alec commented, running a hand through his dark hair. "You're going to be on a tight schedule and you'll need to be near us in case we have to drag you out to fight demons or handle disturbances."

"Oh," was Clary's reply as she once again thought over the new possibilities.

Jace threw up his hands in frustration. "How can you approach the subject to her without fully understanding what you're getting yourself into?"

"I have to tell her what I know now; otherwise I'll just keep pushing it back until I no longer have the opportunity to try." Clary said quietly coming to a stop in front of Luke's house. She could see her mother inside through the open window, racing around the front room with her usual overalls on that were covered in splattered bits of paint. Clary took a deep breath and walked inside.

"Clary, you're home." Jocelyn Fray greeted her, a smile touching her entire face. "And just in time too. I've been trying to draw the perfect bridesmaid dress for you and it just doesn't seem to be turning out right. I thought I could describe it to you and get you to draw it instead. Hello kids." She finished, finally noticing the friends who'd followed Clary inside.

"Kids." Jace muttered to Alec who rolled his eyes.

"Mum, I need to –" Clary began before being cut off by her mother.

"I know you don't like wearing dresses, but it'll just be for one day." Jocelyn replied animatedly, turning away from her daughter. "I'll just go get some clean pages for you won't be a minute."

"But I wanted to talk to you about school." Clary stated quickly before her mother left the room.

"School can wait for now, I just want to plan to perfect wedding." She said not bothered to turn away, Clary didn't push her any further.

Jace waited until Jocelyn was out of the room before saying anything. "Well that went well, you really told her everything."

"Oh, shut up Jace." Clary snapped without force. "She's so happy. I can't make her angry, not yet."

"So what do we do now?" Alec asked looking between his siblings and Clary.

"We train Clary." Isabelle said instantly. "And we'll tell Jocelyn when the time is right." No-one said anything else.

* * *

**A/N: And here we have it, the next instalment. I hope you all enjoyed it. **

**I probably won't be updating too regularly because I've just started uni again and it turns out I have a strict reading schedule that is going to take up a lot of my time. That's not to say that the story won't be updated at all, just that it'll be slow. Sorry. **

**Tell me what you thought of it. **

**~James' Girl Lily. **


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